Is anyone even surprised by Madonna’s escapades anymore? At the age of 53, she still has the power to offend and insult pretty much anyone that steps in her path, including the president of France’s National Front Party, Marine Le Pen. On July 14, Madonna held a concert for her French fans at the Stade de France just north of Paris. To Le Pen’s astonishment and disgust, Madonna displayed a video during one of her songs, “Nobody Knows Me”, flashing images of political figures Pope Benedict, Hu Jintao, Sarah Palin (no surprise here), and Marine Le Pen. Maybe Le Pen would have been honored by her inclusion in a Madonna concert, but the world leaders were depicted as Neo Nazis with swastikas on their foreheads. This whole charade was Madonna’s response to Le Pen’s beliefs on Muslim immigration and their relations in the EU. Le Pen wants to return to the Franc and put a stop to illegal Muslim immigration, which Madonna describes as “intolerance”. Although Marine Le Pen has not taken action yet, there is talk of a lawsuit against the American singer for her onstage antics. And, of course, she has demanded an apology.

Watson, which is among the top five generic drug companies in the world recently agreed to pay $1.7 million to the state of Idaho to settle allegations of consumer fraud. The consumer, in this case, being the government. Lawrence Wasden, the Idaho Attorney General, filed lawsuits in 2007 against various pharmaceutical companies, Watson included. These lawsuits were meant to recover taxpayer money, claiming the pharmaceutical companies earned extra money unlawfully by reporting an inflated price for their generic drugs.

“Cops keep firing in my environment / middle finger to the law.” These immortal words from New York rapper Nas were most likely running through Robert Bell’s head on August 6, 2011, except there were no guns involved and Nas was nowhere to be seen. Mr. Bell left the Slaughtered Lamb Pub in Greenwich Village, NY and decided to give three policemen a little piece of his mind. He flipped them the bird and seconds later was arrested for disorderly conduct, obscene gesture, public alarm, and annoyance. His stated reason for throwing the universal gesture was not only to insult the three personally, but also because he just does not like cops in general. Robert Bell has filed a lawsuit against the city for violating his constitutional rights on what he believes is protected speech. On top of that, he is suing for assault, false arrest, and, my favorite, emotional distress.

Retailers and credit card issuers settled last week on terms that will allow vendors to apply surcharges to customers who choose to pay by credit. The additional charge, if implemented, will be used to compensate for small fees the vendor assumes for processing the transaction. This charge can typically range from 1.5 to 3 percent of a purchase when using plastic. And while most merchants are not expected to take advantage of the ruling, don’t expect the ones who do to exercise the same power that several Long Island gas stations have demonstrated.